Is Broberg a bust, could Rodrigue get a shot in goal and other Oilers takes
By Phil Gretzky
Just old rather than the Ovechkin of old?
Alex Ovechkin might not be able to break Wayne Gretzky’s career goal-scoring record, at least according to this. If you scroll down to the bottom to the “This n’ that” section, you’ll see that the Capitals, who are one of the top two oldest teams in the league, are on a downward trajectory as a franchise.
Ovechkin’s favourite linemates Evgeny Kuznetzov and Niklas Backstrom) appear to be injured for the foreseeable future (possibly forever in the latter’s case) and he isn’t scoring at his usual rate. At 38, he might be starting to finally slow down.
Kuznetzov is still listed by Daily Faceoff as officially in the Capitals lineup. However, with illness, especially something easily transmittable like the flu or COVID, you don’t want to take any chances, especially with the Caps still winning on the season.
They’re a bit of an enigma, facing a lot of downward pressures yet still finding ways to win, except against the Oilers, am I right?
Ovechkin only has five goals so far this season, but 827 in his career and thus 67 to go, to tie Gretzky’s record of 894. The Capitals have him signed for two more seasons, so if he puts up 22+ goals this season plus the next two then he’s laughing and will have broken Gretzky’s record.
We’ll see if Ovechkin still has enough gas left in the tank to do it. Of course, if he catches lightning in a bottle and scores 50 again…..then that time shrinks significantly.